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Report from the Palestine Section

Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Escalate Attacks on Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied PalestinianTerritory (OPT), and Isolate the Gaza Strip from the Outside World

The outcome of crimes committed by IOF since 25 June 2006:

35 Palestinians have been killed by IOF (3 have been extra-judicially executed

More than 100 Palestinian civilians, including 30 children, have been wounded by the IOF gunfire.

air-to-surface missiles and hundreds of artillery shells have been fired at Palestinian civilians and military targets in the Gaza Strip.

Two buildings of the Palestinian Ministry of Interior, the office of the Palestinian Prime Minister and a number of educational institutions have been destroyed.

3 bridges linking Gaza City with the southern Gaza Strip and 3 roads in Khan Yunis and al-Nusairat have been destroyed.

Hundreds of donums of agricultural land and 5 houses have been destroyed, and 6 other houses have been transformed into military sites.

The electricity network of Rafah has been destroyed.

At least 180 Palestinian civilians, including 8 ministers and more than 24 PLC members have been arrested in the West Bank, and 4 Palestinian civilians have been arrested in the Gaza Strip.

Gaza International Airport in the southern Gaza Strip and parts of the northern Gaza Strip have been occupied by IO.

Since Israel invaded Gaza on June 27 , it practiced high aggressive measures against the civilians and agains the infra structure . The frequent use of sonic booms by Israeli military aircraft over Gaza as well as the bombardment of civilians , has caused the death of innocent people as well as the injuries of more than hundreds of others , in addition to the great fear among the civilian population, particularly among children. Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits “measures of intimidation” against the civilian population. These attacks on civilians constitute war crimes under the Fourth Geneva Convention. The same Convention criminalizes Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip, where Palestinian families have faced a growing humanitarian crisis..

The deliberate destruction of civilian infrastructure is a form of collective punishment that violates the Hague Convention as well as the Fourth Geneva Convention and constitutes a war crime.( No general penalty, pecuniary or otherwise, shall be inflicted upon the population on account of the acts of individuals for which they cannot be regarded as jointly and severally responsible," Article 50, Hague Convention.

Israel destroyed Gaza's only power plant, leaving 1.5 million people without electricity or running water. In Gaza's two main hospitals, infant incubators, dialysis, and oxygen machines stopped running laws of war prohibit attacks on “objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population.”. The lack of sanitation threatens a public health crisis as sewage builds up in crowded streets, which are the only play areas for children in one of the world's poorest and most densely-populated areas.. Children, in particular, are psychologically harmed by these frightening around-the-clock raids, which have produced panic attacks, sleep disturbances, bedwetting and other detrimental effects amongst tens of thousands of children. These raids are a clear violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Israel is a signatory.("In accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect the civilian population in armed conflicts, States Parties shall take all feasible measures to ensure protection and care of children who are affected by an armed conflict," Article 38, Convention on the Rights of the Child”.

Israeli war planes have destroyed Gaza's three main bridges, on which people depend for the transport of food, medicine, and other necessities. Israeli crack-downs on the movement of goods in Gaza have caused intermittent food shortages since 2000. Even before the current invasion, half of Palestinian families were only eating one meal a day. The destruction of the bridges will further endanger the food security of a population made vulnerable by years of Israeli occupation policies. Israeli war crimes are being committed with weapons supplied by the United States, including fighter planes manufactured by Lockheed Martin and Boeing. The use of US-made weapons to target civilians violates the US Arms Export Control Act as well as the Geneva Conventions.

Even though Israel unilaterally withdrew its troops and settlements from Gaza in 2005, it continues to have obligations as an occupying power in Gaza because of its almost complete control over Gaza’s borders, sea and air space, tax revenue, utilities, and the internal economy of Gaza. At a minimum, Israel continues to be responsible for the basic welfare of the Palestinian population in Gaza, in particular the health, educational, and humanitarian needs of the population to the extent these are affected by the restrictions imposed on Gaza by Israel.

As the international community has remained silent, IOF have continued to wage a full scale offensive on the Palestinian people, especially in the Gaza Strip. We call upon the international community, particularly the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and United Nations Agency, to immediately intervene to force IOF to stop this offensive and allow the passage of foodstuffs, medical supplies and fuels into the Gaza Strip. We warn the international community of the policies of collective punishment and reprisals practiced by IOF against the Palestinian civilian population, especially the destruction of electricity sources and the denial of passage of foodstuffs and fuels into the Gaza Strip, which will lead to a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

we believe that the international conspiracy of silence and US official statements that Israel has the right to take all measures that could ensure the release of a captured Israeli soldier, constitute a green light for IOF to wage a full scale offensive and impose a tightened siege on the Gaza Strip.

Israel should recognize Palestinian civilians as "protected persons" under the Geneva Conventions and We call of for an immediate end of the Israeli invasion and withdrawal of the Israeli troops from Gaza Strip and from other ares in the West Bank

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